from one end of the galaxy to the other." He turned back toward his
children and draped his arms across their shoulders as they all walked
into the cool shadows of the temple's interior. With flashing lights
and a bleeping sound Artoo-Detoo trundled forward to meet them.
Han reached around Anakin and patted the droid's domed head in
greeting.
"It'll be good to spend some time alone with the family. Just my kids
and me," Han said. "A quiet, relaxing vacation."
"Oh, I doubt that, Dad," Jaina said. "From what I hear, there's always
something interesting happening on Ord Mantell."
Even if Jacen wasn't entirely thrilled about leaving his close friend
Tenel Ka behind for a few days, Jaina reveled in the chance to fly
beside her father as his genuine copilot. Although she felt dwarfed by
the huge seat that normally accommodated a burly Wookiee, she handled
the Falcon with as much expertise as she did the Rock Dragon.
So far it was one of the best times she had ever shared with her
father. Young Anakin, with his ability for grasping problems and
solving complex puzzles, studied the navigational charts and considered
various paths through hyperspace, until he announced that he had found
a perfectly safe shortcut to Ord Mantell.
After Han Solo double-checked Anakin's calculations, he announced that
he saw no reason not to try the new route. If his son was right, the
new path would cut a full six standard hours off their transit time.
Once the Falcon was in hyperspace, Han said to his children, "Ord
Mantell's in the middle of nowhere, but that's not necessarily a
disadvantage. A lot of smuggling traffic goes through there. Its
position makes the planet about equally close to anyplace else along
certain hyperspace paths. So even though it's not exactly convenient,
Ord Mantell makes a good way station or stopping point."
"If it's a smugglers' hangout, you probably spent some time there
between Derbies-right, Dad?" Jacen asked. "Before you became
respectable, I mean."
Han Solo laughed. "Plenty of times, Jacen. I never tried to hide my
checkered past from you all. Doesn't seem to bother your mother
anymore. After all, I learned some of my most useful skills when I was
a smuggler and a crack pilot-even studied at the Imperial Academy for a
while. All that stuff in my past is part of who I am; the things I
learned made me a vital asset to the Rebellion when we fought the
Empire. I don't spend time regretting what I've done in my life, so
long as I can use it now to help the people I love."
Jaina raised her eyebrows. "So if we ever do anything you think is
dumb, you'll understand, right? You'll just accept it as part of our
growth and training?"
Han knitted his brows. "Uh, that's not exactly what I meant."
Jacen stood leaning against the back of his father's chair in the
Falcon's cockpit. "Tell us what you did on Ord Mantell, Dad."
"I ended up there pretty often when I was a smuggler. Seems like every
time I went to Ord Mantell I ran into one bounty hunter or another, and
every one of 'em meant trouble. One of the worst was an insect
creature named Cypher Bos, a mercenary, as vile and selfcentered as
they come. He was impersonating his identical hatch-mate brother, who
was a Rebel sympathizer. But all those bug-people look alike, and I
couldn't tell the difference. Cypher Bos sold us out and almost
captured your mom and Luke and me. Then the three of us nearly got fed
to the Imperials by a cyborg bounty hunter named Skoff. They just
never learn." He shook his head.
"But one of the worst pinches I ever got into was against a tough
smuggler named Czethros, and his Rybet henchman Brim. They were
licensed bounty hunters, as well as black-marketeers in the Ord Mantell
system, and had some connection to Black Sun. When Chewie and I were
in a tight situation once with the Falcon, we had to land on Ord
Mantell and get repairs. The system was crawling with Imperials, but
we made it without getting stopped.
"When Czethros found out I was on Ord Mantell, he and his pal set up a
trap, kidnapped Chewie." Han gave a halfhearted grin as he relived the
memory of his bygone adventure. "Told me to give myself up for the
reward, or he'd kill my Wookiee friend."
"So how did you get away?" Jacen said.
"Turned the tables on 'em, of course. I'd been keeping an eye on
Czethros through some smuggler friends and found out he and Briff were
taking an unmarked skimmer out to the place where I was supposed to
give myself up. I stole Czethros's own ship from its hangar bay, did a
few things calculated to make the Imperials mad, then led them on a
merry chase on my way to the exchange point."
"Must've been quite a ride," Jaina said.
Han grimaced. "Not one I'd like to repeat. I made it to the
rendezvous with just enough time to hide before the stormtroopers
showed up and nabbed Czethros along with his Rybet buddy. He claimed
total innocence, of course, but the ship obviously belonged to him.
The stormtroopers searched the ship and found plenty of ...
irregularities.
Weapons, drugs, and so on. While they were busy, I managed to sneak
over and free Chewie. Next thing we heard, the Imperials had carted
Czethros and Briff off to the spice mines on Kessel. I think his
henchman worked some kind of deal a year later with Moruth Doole, a
Rybet who worked on Kessel. From what I've seen in recent reports,
Czethros is actually something of a respectable businessman on Ord
Mantell these days. 'Course I'd bet my left repulsorpack module that
he's still heavily into the smuggling business."
"Aren't you afraid he might try to cause trouble for you while we're
there?" Jaina asked. "He could still be holding a grudge."
Han blew air through his lips. "Not a chance. Been too many years.
It's all lava under the bridge by now." But Jaina noticed a twinge of
concern on his face.
She turned toward the navigation controls. "Time to drop out of
hyperspace. We should be pretty close to Ord Mantell."
Han looked over and smiled at his youngest son. "Well, Anakin, let's
see how your calculations worked out."
Jaina was pleased to see, as they dropped out of hyperspace, that the
Falcon was already so close to the correct position that they were able
to slip into orbit with only minor course modifications.
Ord Mantell was a bland planet of average size, with average gravity,
and an average atmosphere. Its topography showed the usual landscape
variations-mountains, forests, and swamps. Skeins of clouds
embroidered white patterns in the sky below. However, for orbital
convenience and launching maneuvers, much of the equatorial band across
the continents had been settled and converted into spaceports that
boasted large docking bays and no-questions-asked cargo-handling
policies.
Ord Mantell had some of the most lenient banking laws in the New
Republic, famous for their flexibility. Banks there would accommodate
anyone, in an
y line of business. As long as customers didn't cause
trouble, or at least didn't get caught-and remembered to pay the
appropriate landing fees, tariffs, and permit taxes-bankers never
interfered.
Han looked over at his daughter. "Ever piloted a ship down from orbit
all the way into a docking bay?" he asked.
Jaina brightened. "Nothing as big as the Falcon. I've done it with
the Rock Dragon quite a few times, though."
"Well then, this'll be no problem for you," Han said, but his lop sided
smile twitched slightly, as if he were nervous. Jaina pretended not to
notice. "Go ahead and take her down."
Jaina used the copilot controls to alter their vector and plow into the
atmosphere at a shallow angle. While they descended, Anakin helped her
to locate a landing beacon from the docking bay at which Han had
reserved a berth for the Falcon. He programmed in their landing
coordinates.
The atmosphere shone blue on the equator as they dove closer to the
surface. Jaina watched the silver-white belt of development that
girdled the world resolve itself into a bustling metropolis filled with
blocky prefab buildings, large flat rooftops, and countless balconies
that extended out far enough for small private craft to launch secretly
in the dead of night.
"Most of those buildings don't have addresses," Han Solo explained.
"On this planet, if you don't know where you are and where you're
going, then you don't belong there."
"How do people find their way around?" Jacen asked.
"It looks challenging," Anakin said.
"Except for the Derby, Ord Mantell's no place for tourists," Han went
on. "People don't come just to hang around. You can get a lot of
things done here if you happen to be willing to bend a few rules-but
sightseeing isn't one of them. This planet's mainly for passing
through, a place to pick up cargo or get a new assignment. Imperials
used this system for fleet training maneuvers because the outer
planetary orbits are so hazardous. The cometary cloud's pretty
thick-that's where the course is for the Blockade Runners Derby."
While Han rambled on, Jaina sweated. She gripped the controls in
preparation for landing the big Corellian ship. She didn't know why
she suddenly felt so anxious, but her hands grew damp with perspiration
as she brought the Falcon in. Maybe she just wanted her father to be
proud of her. Gusty winds swirled around the tall blocky building in
the center of her scope. Far below, red, blue, and green ground cars
crawled along; illuminated skimmers soared between the buildings in
skyward alleys.
"Just take it easy, Jaina. You're doing fine," Han said.
"Yeah, don't sweat it," Jacen said. "We trust you."
Jaina paused and let her confidence build, despite the warble of
uneasiness she had heard in her twin brother's voice. She took a deep
breath.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" she muttered to herself, and brought
the Falcon down toward the big flat rooftop outside the landing bay.
As she approached, running lights illuminated a rectangular slit that
yawned open, wide and dark. "Those're the docking doors, Jaina. You
have to float down below. Our berth is in the upper bay."
Jaina swallowed. She had thought just landing the light freighter on
the rooftop would be challenge enough; now she had to slip through this
narrow hole that, from this height, looked barely a meter wider than
the Falcon's hull. She couldn't let anything happen to her dad's
ship.
"May the Force be with you," she heard Jacen whisper. Then she
remembered that her uncle Luke always told them to use their Jedi
senses in addition to their training in any skill.
She was a good pilot. And she was a Jedi. She drew a deep breath, let
her body relax into the seat.
The Millennium Falcon became part of Jaina, an extension of her mind,
and she could sense the distance to the outer walls. She slipped the
light freighter between the opening doors without so much as a wobble
or a jitter.
Han looked at her in proud amazement. "That's very smooth, Jaina."
"Just tell me where to land," she said. Her fingers danced across the
repulsor engine controls. Her calm voice betrayed none of her
uneasiness.
"Over there." Han gestured, and she saw a broad docking bay where a
group of people stood waiting to greet them. Amber lights flashed, and
someone holding bright laser torches directed the Falcon to its landing
place.
With a final hiss, the landing pads touched down on the deck plates.
Jaina felt a thrill of exhilaration. What had she been so worried
about?
Han hugged her.
the landing ramp, Han said, "Wonder who's in our welcoming committee.
" "They could've hired musicians ... maybe some kind of a band," Jacen
said. "You are an official representative of the New Republic."
"Not only that," Han said, brushing the front of his vest. "I'm Grand
Marshal of the Blockade Runners Derby. That's a pretty big honor
around these parts."
Han Solo, along with Anakin, Jacen, and Jaina, hurried to the landing
ramp-only to find a group of armed soldiers blocking their exit.
Looming in front of them was a tall, broad-shouldered man who wore a
cape and blasters at his hip. Close-cropped moss-green hair covered
the top of his head. A band of metal, inset with lights and sensors,
encircled his head like a ring around some pale-green planet. The
front half of the silver metal band was a visor that completely covered
his eyes. The rest of the metal band appeared to be permanently
affixed about his ears and the back of his skull. He seemed to be
receiving a continuous flow of information through the apparatus, and
his lips curled in a sneer. A constantly moving cyberoptical laser
sensor burned through a thin slit in the narrow visor, glaring at all
of them.
Han Solo stopped in his tracks. His confident expression quickly
faded. "Czethros!" he said, a look of disbelief in his eyes.
The sinister-looking man lifted his chin, his gaze frozen in a metal
glare. "Han Solo," he said in a rough, gravelly voice. "I knew if I
waited long enough, you'd return to Ord Mantell."
Though Han fought to keep a calm expression on his face, Jacen sensed
the sudden wave of apprehension rippling through his father.
The guards looked tense, ready to fire.
Han had long since stopped carrying a blaster at his hip-a good thing,
Jacen supposed; otherwise they'd probably be in the middle of a
shoot-out right now. His father had been hoping for a calm family
outing while he did a bit of official work for the New Republic as a
special guest at the famous race. They hadn't been prepared for
anything like this.
Then Czethros stepped forward and surprised them all by extending his
thickly gloved hand. The skin on his face rippled as his lips twisted
in a smile. "Welcome back to Ord Mantell, Solo. A lot has changed
&nb
sp; since you and I were ... opponents those many-years ago."
Eyes narrowing just a fraction, Han Solo reluctantly slid his hand into
the former smuggler and bounty hunter's grip. "Uh, yes ... that's
right," he said, still cautious. Jacen felt the thick uneasiness in
the air.
He, Jaina, and Anakin looked at each other in confusion.
"Back then, I was an officially licensed bounty hunter. You were a
posted Imperial target," Czethros said. "Nothing personal, of
course.
No hard feelings."
"Of course." Han flashed the metal-visored man one of his most
charming lopsided grins. "I thought after all those years in the spice
mines you might, uh, hold a grudge."
"It's the nature of the bounty-hunting business," Czethros said. His
laser-red cyber-eye drifted left and then right. "I used every trick
to apprehend you, and you used every trick to get away. You just
happened to have one more trick in your repertoire than I did-at the
time, at least." He stepped back toward the gathered guards. "But I!m
no longer in that line of work. I have a thriving business here on Ord
Mantell. In fact, I pulled a few strings to get you selected as Grand
Marshal for the Blockade Runners Derby. Since you'd settled down and
weren't likely to be one of our contestants this year, I thought you
might want to participate in some small way ... if only to see what
you're missing."